Gregor McGregor - Lee Johnson Interview (Merged)

[archie andrews]

Alls im gonna say is lj team early 17 /18 season played best football ive seen and that includes 76/80....

[Davefevs]

9 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

What part of that is untrue? 

The more honest answer would’ve been:

I signed Andi who’d spent his last few seasons playing wide right (Derby and Wolves) but the player himself says his best position is a striker, which I agree with having looked back at his time at Villa, and that’s why we’ve signed him and where he’s gonna play.

No fake news there….that’s what was said (paraphrased) when he signed.

The contention comes from Lee himself that half a dozen games into that season, having initially seen Andi score regularly playing as the main striker, Diedhiou came back from gob-gate suspension, and not long after Andi got shifted back out onto the wing, a position Lee played him in a lot of the time for the rest of his tenure as City Head-Coach.

Is any of what I’ve written untrue?  I’m not trying to be clever either, just seemed a strange claim.

I will give Lee lots of credit for Bobby Reid, but to claim he turned him into a 9 1/2 is disingenuous to say the least.

[Sheltons Army]

8 hours ago, Robbored said:

He certainly is City through and through but because , like me he talks a load of bollocks he’ll never become a top manager. He’s already achieved the best level he’ll ever reach - and will never achieve the success or popularity of his father.

He eventually regressed into a clone of me and I’m sad in so many ways.

 

[IAmNick]

16 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

The more honest answer would’ve been:

I signed Andi who’d spent his last few seasons playing wide right (Derby and Wolves) but the player himself says his best position is a striker, which I agree with having looked back at his time at Villa, and that’s why we’ve signed him and where he’s gonna play.

No fake news there….that’s what was said (paraphrased) when he signed.

The contention comes from Lee himself that half a dozen games into that season, having initially seen Andi score regularly playing as the main striker, Diedhiou came back from gob-gate suspension, and not long after Andi got shifted back out onto the wing, a position Lee played him in a lot of the time for the rest of his tenure as City Head-Coach.

Is any of what I’ve written untrue?  I’m not trying to be clever either, just seemed a strange claim.

I will give Lee lots of credit for Bobby Reid, but to claim he turned him into a 9 1/2 is disingenuous to say the least.

That's it with Lee though isn't it, and one of the things that drove me mad. He just can't help himself.

The stupid thing is he did loads of good stuff here he could highlight and rightfully take a lot of credit for, but why he feels the need to try and elaborate on something like that is just weird.

It's the same as post Man U / Man C games. They were brilliant performances and he rightly deserved loads of praise - why start talking about bottles of wine with Mourinho or rubbing shoulders with Pep around a tactics board. It's just naff and reeks of insecurity to me. He'd already done the hard part, he just had to bask in it, not endlessly try and big himself up.

[1team]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

If you ever listened properly to a GJ interview he actually talked a lot, laughed at his own jokes but said nothing meaningful at all.

What LJ did was talk a load a bollocks thinking that we’d all be able impressed with his knowledge of the game.

As for becoming a clone of his father I was referring to him playing some decent stuff when he was first appointed but gradually over time he started producing the same dreary shite that his dad had. 

I reckon is part of the Johnson DNA………..

Pot/ Kettle. GJ was Aristotle compared to you! 

Just admit it, he verbally spanked your arse and you haven't been able to sit down since. Move on.

[ScottishRed]

However, Johnson believes he will "need three of four windows" to shape a squad in his own image after signings were made by two sacked managers - Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney - during last 

From BBC Football Scottish football - now, where have I heard that before.........

[bcfc01]

4 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

However, Johnson believes he will "need three of four windows" to shape a squad in his own image after signings were made by two sacked managers - Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney - during last 

From BBC Football Scottish football - now, where have I heard that before.........

Nigel Pearson ?

Or any other football manager maybe ?

Edited June 18, 2022 by bcfc01

[ScottishRed]

1 hour ago, IAmNick said:

That's it with Lee though isn't it, and one of the things that drove me mad. He just can't help himself.

The stupid thing is he did loads of good stuff here he could highlight and rightfully take a lot of credit for, but why he feels the need to try and elaborate on something like that is just weird.

It's the same as post Man U / Man C games. They were brilliant performances and he rightly deserved loads of praise - why start talking about bottles of wine with Mourinho or rubbing shoulders with Pep around a tactics board. It's just naff and reeks of insecurity to me. He'd already done the hard part, he just had to bask in it, not endlessly try and big himself up.

Agree 100%. 

Listening his post match interviews on BBC RB after we had lost, I sometimes felt he had imposter syndrome.

I still think that is possible. I believe he is quite a complex character and he would be fascinating to have a couple of pints with.

[ScottishRed]

3 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Nigel Pearson ?

Or any other football manager maybe ?

Yes, of course, silly me.

[Street red]

11 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

However, Johnson believes he will "need three of four windows" to shape a squad in his own image after signings were made by two sacked managers - Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney - during last 

From BBC Football Scottish football - now, where have I heard that before.........

No mentions of Europa

[Redtucks]

10 hours ago, Robbored said:

He certainly is City through and through but because he talks a load of bollocks he’ll never become a top manager. He’s already achieved the best level he’ll ever reach - just like his father.

He eventually regressed into a clone of his dad……….. and that’s sad in many ways.

But both talk far less bollocks than you, and both have achieved a far better level than you have!

 

[E.G.Red]

9 hours ago, cityloyal473 said:

There’s an element of truth on this. Nice guy but he just doesn’t  know what he’s supposed to be. Tried to be a jack of all trade at city and he’s not. Speaks the same language wherever he goes. Just concentrate on what he’s good on. Forget the rest of the fluff. He might do alright if he focuses on his strengths. 

Think he tried too hard, and perhaps listened to the wrong people or didn't listen to the right people. I do think that without him we wouldn't have seen Tammy at the gate and Tammy certainly left us as a better player than when he arrived.

[ScottishRed]

24 minutes ago, E.G.Red said:

Think he tried too hard, and perhaps listened to the wrong people or didn't listen to the right people. I do think that without him we wouldn't have seen Tammy at the gate and Tammy certainly left us as a better player than when he arrived.

In my opinion LJ is a good coach, he just isn’t a manager.

What really ground my gears is the utter buxxshxt he spoke. But, I think he is a nice bloke.

He has a real challenge at Hibs, the relatively new owner has already disposed of 2 managers / HC’s - Shaun Maloney after only 4 months!

But, he has incredibly got a 4 year deal, so they must believe in him and financially LJ is in the pound seats.

[Garland-sweden]

We played good football the season with the cup win, MU. Then lose Wolves home in the leauge and from there not good. Liked LJ but could never understand or accept that he played COD before Eliasson. Eight days a week Niclas a better player then COD. LJ said COD was better in defensive play, kind of humor. Eliasson had more assists in one season then COD all his years in City. 

[PHILINFRANCE]

6 hours ago, Garland-sweden said:

We played good football the season with the cup win, MU. Then lose Wolves home in the leauge and from there not good. Liked LJ but could never understand or accept that he played COD before Eliasson. Eight days a week Niclas a better player then COD. LJ said COD was better in defensive play, kind of humor. Eliasson had more assists in one season then COD all his years in City. 

That Wolves game was pivotal, wasn’t it.

Not just the result, but certain aspects of the performance.

[Fordy62]

2 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

That Wolves game was pivotal, wasn’t it.

Not just the result, but certain aspects of the performance.

Didn’t Pack do the least effective shielding off the ball out ever in the dying moments?

[Fpcity]

9 hours ago, Garland-sweden said:

We played good football the season with the cup win, MU. Then lose Wolves home in the leauge and from there not good. Liked LJ but could never understand or accept that he played COD before Eliasson. Eight days a week Niclas a better player then COD. LJ said COD was better in defensive play, kind of humor. Eliasson had more assists in one season then COD all his years in City. 

We played the best without Diedhiou when he was injured. When he came back we lost the high press and fast slick passing. But not sure how long Patterson and Reid could've kept up their game as the season went on. 

[REDOXO]

The constant LJ was a good coach theme trotted out In my opinion, is  just that opinion, but with little foundation. 
 

The bloke poured millions upon millions Down the khazi to a point that has taken us to the edge of a point deduction. Yes we all know about Covid, however the money spent on players who never even got on the bench was an utter disgrace. The money spent on one or two who did make the bench but were utter garbage is a bigger disgrace. 
 

A coach would have seen his team needed better players, but we adopted a scatter gun approach that lead to stupidity of mind numbing proportions.
 

Yes Webster turned out to be a good signing as he remained injury free and changing the role of Reid turned out a good move, but outside of that there really isn’t much else. That’s why Lansdown sacked him. Yes we were decent for the first half of one season with a decent cup run, but LJ eventually was seen for what he was.

A bloke who predicted Europa league in five years and delivered a bloated squad  with valueless players and a superhighway to a points deduction!

[weepywall]

11 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

The constant LJ was a good coach theme trotted out In my opinion, is  just that opinion, but with little foundation. 
 

The bloke poured millions upon millions Down the khazi to a point that has taken us to the edge of a point deduction. Yes we all know about Covid, however the money spent on players who never even got on the bench was an utter disgrace. The money spent on one or two who did make the bench but were utter garbage is a bigger disgrace. 
 

A coach would have seen his team needed better players, but we adopted a scatter gun approach that lead to stupidity of mind numbing proportions.
 

Yes Webster turned out to be a good signing as he remained injury free and changing the role of Reid turned out a good move, but outside of that there really isn’t much else. That’s why Lansdown sacked him. Yes we were decent for the first half of one season with a decent cup run, but LJ eventually was seen for what he was.

A bloke who predicted Europa league in five years and delivered a bloated squad  with valueless players and a superhighway to a points deduction!

Can't argue with any of that !!

[Fordy62]

1 hour ago, REDOXO said:

The constant LJ was a good coach theme trotted out In my opinion, is  just that opinion, but with little foundation. 
 

The bloke poured millions upon millions Down the khazi to a point that has taken us to the edge of a point deduction. Yes we all know about Covid, however the money spent on players who never even got on the bench was an utter disgrace. The money spent on one or two who did make the bench but were utter garbage is a bigger disgrace. 
 

A coach would have seen his team needed better players, but we adopted a scatter gun approach that lead to stupidity of mind numbing proportions.
 

Yes Webster turned out to be a good signing as he remained injury free and changing the role of Reid turned out a good move, but outside of that there really isn’t much else. That’s why Lansdown sacked him. Yes we were decent for the first half of one season with a decent cup run, but LJ eventually was seen for what he was.

A bloke who predicted Europa league in five years and delivered a bloated squad  with valueless players and a superhighway to a points deduction!

1. Webster, Brownhill and Reid were LJ’s picks. 

2. the other 60 were Mark Ashton’s. 
 

Come on. You must know that by now?! Duh. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Fordy62

[Robbored]

44 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

1. Webster, Brownhill and Reid were LJ’s picks. 

2. the other 60 were Mark Ashton’s. 
 

It doesn’t matter who signed who now - we all know LJ and Smarmy Ashton signed anonymous players and MA handed out ‘generous’ contracts which has saddled Nige with players he doesn’t want but can’t rid of.

Time to move now and concentrate on the upcoming season.

[Fordy62]

15 minutes ago, Robbored said:

It doesn’t matter who signed who now - we all know LJ and Smarmy Ashton signed anonymous players and MA handed out ‘generous’ contracts which has saddled Nige with players he doesn’t want but can’t rid of.

Time to move now and concentrate on the upcoming season.

Yes. You’re excellent at moving on…

[Pezo]

1 hour ago, Fordy62 said:

1. Webster, Brownhill and Reid were LJ’s picks. 

2. the other 60 were Mark Ashton’s. 
 

Come on. You must know that by now?! Duh. 

I know you say it in jest but you must admit there is a strong correlation between the scatter gun approach here and the scatter gun approach at Ipswich. Meanwhile LJ is 2 for 2 on league 1 teams he has been in charge of, got sacked and them getting promoted in the same season (which must wind him up ).

It's well known that Webster was LJ's agreement when selling Flint - that was who he wanted. He had an existing relationship with Brownhill from his time at Barnsley and made him a priority signing when he arrived, Reid was moved up from by LJ so he can take some credit for that. Sure he had a large say about the others that came in but I'm not convinced he had the "final say" as he said, whoever hold the purse strings ultimately has the final say and that's SL/JL with MA managing and sitting between them.

Don't get me wrong though, his departure was about 3/6 months too late IMHO.

[Fordy62]

39 minutes ago, Pezo said:

I know you say it in jest but you must admit there is a strong correlation between the scatter gun approach here and the scatter gun approach at Ipswich. Meanwhile LJ is 2 for 2 on league 1 teams he has been in charge of, got sacked and them getting promoted in the same season (which must wind him up ).

It's well known that Webster was LJ's agreement when selling Flint - that was who he wanted. He had an existing relationship with Brownhill from his time at Barnsley and made him a priority signing when he arrived, Reid was moved up from by LJ so he can take some credit for that. Sure he had a large say about the others that came in but I'm not convinced he had the "final say" as he said, whoever hold the purse strings ultimately has the final say and that's SL/JL with MA managing and sitting between them.

Don't get me wrong though, his departure was about 3/6 months too late IMHO.

I do say it in jest you’re right. And I’m not an LJ fan, largely because of the bollocks he spouts (and the unlevel Playing field Cotts got or LJ’s benefit from nepotism, whichever way you wanna look at it!)

But there are very many people out there who are adamant that everything good was LJ and everything bad was MA. And it’s just nonsense.  Above, you’ve even gone as far as to say that you don’t believe what LJ said himself!

Its remarkable. I don’t think everything LJ did was bad. Not at all. But I just want people to have a balanced view that they can’t just blame everything bad on Ashton. 

At the very least, LJ was guilty of saying “yeh, go on then” every time MA offered him a new player. 

We’re now paying for their collective mess. It’s their (collective) fault. 

[PHILINFRANCE]

8 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Didn’t Pack do the least effective shielding off the ball out ever in the dying moments?

The attempted Cruyff turn?

[Mrdc]

11 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

That Wolves game was pivotal, wasn’t it.

Not just the result, but certain aspects of the performance.

Tell me about it.

I had to leave at half time due to a sickness bug. Throwing up in my seat was something I won’t forget for a long time.

[REDOXO]

7 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

1. Webster, Brownhill and Reid were LJ’s picks. 

2. the other 60 were Mark Ashton’s. 
 

Come on. You must know that by now?! Duh. 

That’s funny! Needs more than one like!!

[PHILINFRANCE]

8 hours ago, Mrdc said:

Tell me about it.

I had to leave at half time due to a sickness bug. Throwing up in my seat was something I won’t forget for a long time.

I imagine the same might be said for the people sitting next to you .

[frenchred]

On 18/06/2022 at 17:10, cidered abroad said:

He might be a reasonable coach but his biggest failing is the same as his father.

His man management is poor and additionally he is too fond of throwing his players under the nearest bus.

 

Same as pearson

[Robbored]

6 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Same as pearson

What!  Good grief………..

Nige is well respected man manager. Plenty of his former players and staff are full of praise and admiration for him.

 

[frenchred]

Just now, Robbored said:

What!  Good grief………..

Nige is well respected man manager. Plenty of his former players and staff are full of praise and admiration for him.

 

And throws players under the bus on a regular occurance!

[IAmNick]

28 minutes ago, frenchred said:

And throws players under the bus on a regular occurance!

Any examples?

[frenchred]

27 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Any examples?

Plenty of examples if you look back through the threads from last season but off the top of my head at different points during the season, Tanner, Bentley, Pring, Baginton, I'm sure there's more

[IAmNick]

Just now, frenchred said:

Plenty of examples if you look back through the threads from last season but off the top of my head at different points during the season, Tanner, Bentley, Pring, Baginton, I'm sure there's more

Can you link me to a couple of interviews or whatever where he threw them under the bus? Even just one or two if you can't find them all would be good.

[frenchred]

18 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Can you link me to a couple of interviews or whatever where he threw them under the bus? Even just one or two if you can't find them all would be good.

They were all on Radio Bristol, usually post match after a bad result

Let's be clear though, at no point in this thread did I say it was wrong, just used as comparison to Gary Johnson who RR has a personal gripe against

[Robbored]

1 hour ago, frenchred said:

And throws players under the bus on a regular occurance!

Got a link? I certainly don’t remember him calling a  particular player out……unless you consider “players not doing their job and making the same mistakes” is throwing a player under the bus?     

[Davefevs]

I think you need @frenchredto clarify what he means by “throwing under the bus”.  One man’s scapegoating a player is another man’s honestly critiquing a player’s performance without blaming them.  Managers are allowed to talk about individual players pre and post match, and it doesn’t have to be about always blowing smoke up their arses too.  I trust Nige’s man-management style, the players seem to regard him highly and the sense you get from them is that he more “cuddly Nige” than the media Nige we see / hear.  With the exception of Bakinson who he let off steam about (possibly a bit OTT) I can’t recall coming away from a Nige interview thinking he’d thrown any player under the bus…but that’s just my opinion.

[NcnsBcfc]

32 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think you need @frenchredto clarify what he means by “throwing under the bus”.  One man’s scapegoating a player is another man’s honestly critiquing a player’s performance without blaming them.  Managers are allowed to talk about individual players pre and post match, and it doesn’t have to be about always blowing smoke up their arses too.  I trust Nige’s man-management style, the players seem to regard him highly and the sense you get from them is that he more “cuddly Nige” than the media Nige we see / hear.  With the exception of Bakinson who he let off steam about (possibly a bit OTT) I can’t recall coming away from a Nige interview thinking he’d thrown any player under the bus…but that’s just my opinion.

I agree in the main @Davefevs.

However that NP nonsense of "If they're not on the bus, they are gone etc...". That he kept on using for 12 months, when it was quite obvious that those days of getting rid of players in that way were over from a financial perspective if nothing else; were somewhat tiring.....

[SBB]

I think we all know who started the “under/not on the bus nonesense”.

[Sheltons Army]

5 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

I imagine the same might be said for the people sitting next to you .

I was thinking more the person in front !

3 hours ago, frenchred said:

Plenty of examples if you look back through the threads from last season but off the top of my head at different points during the season, Tanner, Bentley, Pring, Baginton, I'm sure there's more

What do you class as ‘throwing under a bus’

[Sheltons Army]

1 hour ago, NcnsBcfc said:

I agree in the main @Davefevs.

However that NP nonsense of "If they're not on the bus, they are gone etc...". That he kept on using for 12 months, when it was quite obvious that those days of getting rid of players in that way were over from a financial perspective if nothing else; were somewhat tiring.....

He didn’t name players who he regarded as not on the bus (Albeit it appeared fairly obvious)

I see it , not just a message to those that aren’t , but a wider message to all players

[Lanterne Rouge]

Oldham Athletic: How the Latics stumbled their way to relegation to the National League - BBC Sport

A couple of interesting bits in here about LJ`s time at Oldham and the financial pressures he was under.

[SydneyCity]

Some of the worst, demotivating, man management I’ve ever seen is regularly referring to players as “another club in the bag”. Especially when they’ve only just signed.

Amazingly this is nowhere near the top 5 cringiest things he said while at the club.

[chinapig]

1 hour ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Oldham Athletic: How the Latics stumbled their way to relegation to the National League - BBC Sport

A couple of interesting bits in here about LJ`s time at Oldham and the financial pressures he was under.

Saw that too. I always thought it was a minor miracle keeping them in League 1 in the circumstances at the time.